Fallen Hero
by AnotherBook
Summary: Siri Tachi has always looked up to her former master, Adi Gallia. When tragedy strikes, and she finds herself left alone, she has to fight through the grief on her own. Or does she?


**Author's Note: **I wrote this after the Clone Wars episode Revival. Mast Mareya is character who my best friend created. All other characters belong to George Lucas and Jude Watson

Fallen Hero

_A tribute to the great Adi Gallia_

Siri waited in the shade of the hanger bay as she watched the ship land. Her heart pounded in her chest, and her breath caught in her throat. He was back. Alive. And according to Master Windu, _unharmed. _That in itself was miraculous. As the ramp lowered, she ran forward to meet him.

"Obi-Wan!" she called, unable to hide the relief in her voice. He looked up at her a bit surprised and... was that panic in his eyes? Then his face cleared and he gave smiled at her.

"Hello Siri," he said. "I... wasn't expecting you to be here."

"Where did you think I would be?" she demanded. "You knew I was going to be arriving soon when you left. In fact I arrived shortly after. I _told_ you to wait for me! Why did you think you could go after Maul alone? I mean, I know master Adi was with you..."

Siri trailed off her, scanning the platform. "Speaking of which, where is she?"

Obi-Wan looked away, unable to meet her gaze. Siri glanced over his shoulder, and her heart stopped. Descending the ramp was masters Kit Fisto and Eeth Koth, and they were guiding a hover pad. On it, was a coffin.

"No," she whispered.

"Siri," Obi-Wan said looking at her sorrowfully. "I did my best. So did she."

"No!" Siri cried, pushing him away. "No! You should have waited for me, Kenobi! You should have waited. I should have been there! It wasn't her time!"

"Siri, I'm so sorry," Obi-Wan said. Siri just shook her head at him and raced away.

"Siri," Obi-Wan called, and he took a step forward. A hand on his shoulder stopped him.

"Let her go, Master," Anakin said. Obi-Wan hadn't even seen him come up. "She needs some time to her self."

"She's not a padawan, Anakin," Obi-Wan reminded him.

"They still had a close bond," Anakin reminded him. "Are you saying if you were Siri, a knight with a padawan of your own, and Qui-Gon had been killed. I mean if he had, you know..." Anakin coughed. Maybe he hadn't exactly thought this example all the way through. Obi-Wan's face grew sad, and a pained look crossed it.

"Maybe you're right," he admitted. "If I were in Siri's place, I'd feel just the same."

Siri ran all the way to the Room of a Thousand Fountains. Once inside, she stopped, and took a deep breath. The fragrant air of the flowers helped settle her, and she managed to keep her composure until the moment she ducked into the small private corner she had found as a youngling. It was a tight fit admittedly, but she could still make it inside the small hidden circle of lilac bushes. She sat there, knees drawn up to her chin, and she cried. Tears streamed down her face so that she couldn't see anything except through a water blur. She closed them tightly, feeling strength drain from her. Memories of her former master forced their way into the front of her mind.

Siri hid in the bushes, hands covering her mouth to keep any sound from escaping. She had been hiding for a long time. She wasn't exactly sure how long, possibly a week. She had only been at the temple for a few months, and already she was popular. Popular here meaning, everyone-knew-who-she-was-and-that-she-was-a-trouble-maker. Her latest game was hiding where she thought no one could find her. The first time she had played it, she had hid under a table. She quickly learned that wasn't a good place. She was better now. Once she had hid under a sink for a year, and no one had found her. When she got tired of hiding, she rejoined her group just in time for supper, and scared Master Mareya out of her mind. Now she was hiding in a clump of Lilac bushes. No one had thought to search there, but they had stopped just short of cutting off the branches of the willow tree a short ways away. Siri had to work very hard not to laugh. As if she would hide there. _All_ the younglings played there.

The main group of searchers had left the garden a long time ago, so Siri thought it was safe to come out. She was getting hungry. She slipped out, and began racing down the paths as fast as she could. Smack! She hadn't seen the jedi coming up the path until it was to late. With an "Umph" she fell onto her back.

"Well, who do we have here," a kindly voice said. Siri looked up, and blinked. It was a master. Not good. "Do you know who I am?" Siri knew she helped master Mareya sometimes, and even though she had a good memory for a three-year old, she was terrible with the names. She shook her head. "My name is Master Gallia. What's your's youngling?"

"Siri," she said proudly. She could pronounce R's better then the rest of her age group, and she knew it.

"Well, Siri," Master Gallia said, "we'd better get you back to the crèche, Master Mareya is looking for you." Smiling, Siri took the Master's offered hand. She didn't mind getting caught just this once. Besides, they still didn't know her hiding place.

8 years later. Siri leaped forward, lightsaber blazing. Once again she'd been paired up with Obi-Wan Kenobi. He was 18 months, NOT two years, older than her. She had skipped two levels to end up with him. He was her biggest competitor, and she liked fighting... sorry, _sparring_ with him. He offered her a challenge. Unlike the stuck up, trip everybody with his terrible foot coordination Bruck Chun. He was a nuisance, always trying to get on Siri's good side and impress her. Like _that_ would ever happen. Suddenly, Obi-Wan did a move that left him open. Siri grinned. She darted in, and with a flick of her lightsaber sent Obi-Wan's skittering across the floor. "Match," Master Cin Drallig, the instructor called. Siri powered down her lightsaber and exchanged bows with Obi-Wan. She flashed him a triumphant grin , and Obi-Wan rolled his eyes at her. She glanced to the side where their friends were waiting, and behind them a row of Masters who had been observing the match. On the very end of the row was Master Adi Gallia. Her future master. Siri knew it. She wouldn't become a padawan today, but she would be soon. And Master Adi Gallia was going to be her master.

5 years later. "This just goes to show you," Master Adi called to her padawan, "how quickly things can change."

"You don't say?" Siri said, deflecting a laser bolt back at a security droid.

"You know it's that attitude that got us kicked out my young padawan."

"Not my fault the governor's son is so ignorant he doesn't know a refusal when he sees it."

"Now he can barely see anything," Zap! Another destroyed droid.

"I only gave him _one_ black eye." Blast!

"You really need to work on your technique, padawan."

"If you say so, Master."

7 years later. " Siri Tachi," Master Windu intoned, " you have passed all your trials, and have completed your training under the tutelage of Jedi Master Adi Gallia. You have been pronounced entirely prepared for the life that awaits you as a Jedi Knight, if you agree to follow such a path. Do you accept it?"

"I do," Siri said, on her knees surrounded by the jedi council and her master. Adi Gallia walked up, the pride in her eyes shinning brightly as she took her lightsaber, and cut the braid that hung behind her right ear. Siri smiled happily back at her master. When she had walked out of the jedi temple, after a staged fight with her master, to go off on an undercover mission that not even her closest friend Obi-Wan could know about, she had wondered if she'd ever become a knight. Now, here she was, kneeling in the council chambers, her braid newly cut, and her master, her former master, smiling at her proudly. That was the greatest gift of all. She knew the bond they had as master and apprentice would always be there. They would always be close.

"Siri," a voice whispered in her ear. Siri blinked, slowly waking up. When had she fallen asleep? What time was it? She looked towards the camouflaged break in the branches, the only way in or out of the bushes. Obi-wan was sitting there, his head barely fitting into the hiding place.

"What time is it," she murmured.

"Almost time for dinner," he answered. "No one knew where you went."

It Siri a minute to remember why she was hiding. When she did, she wished she hadn't. tears immediately began to flow again, and she buried her face in her hands.

"Siri," Obi-Wan said softly. "I'm so sorry."

"Just go away, Obi-Wan," Siri told him, her voice muffled.

"No," Obi-Wan said gently. "I know what you're going through, remember I went through it and worse. As has Anakin, and most of the other jedi in the order. You're not alone, Siri. Adi Gallia might be gone, but she lives on through you. As her pupil, her teachings are engraved in you. You are her gift to the order. Do you really want to hide that legacy?"

Siri looked at him. She hadn't thought of it that way. She had thought of the lose of one her best teachers, of one who was like a big sister to her. She hadn't been thinking about what the order had lost, or what the other jedi might be feeling. The tears didn't stop flowing as she realized how childish she had been acting.

"I'm sorry Obi-Wan," Siri choked out. "You're right. I'm not alone. I am however acting childish. It wasn't just me who lost someone. The whole order lost her, and I sat here thinking only of me. You did go through worse Obi-Wan, and I'm sorry for acting this way."

"That's alright Siri," Obi-Wan answered, and he offered her his hand. "I know you probably aren't hungry, honestly I'm not either, but if we don't eat something Bant will be chasing us around the temple with a bowl and spoon."

Siri gave a small laugh, and crawled out into the Obi-Wan. Together, she and Obi-Wan walked down the same path on which she had met her master so long ago. Obi-Wan was right, she was Adi Gallia's legacy. She knew just what to do.

The next day, Siri walked into the crèche, and was met by Master Mareya.

"Hello Siri," she greeted. "They're all ready for you in there."

"Thank you master," Siri said, and she entered the next room. Their was a hush in the room as the whispers that had been exchanged during the wait were dropped.

"Hello younglings," Siri said cheerfully.

"Hello Masta Tachi," the group chorused.

"I'd like to tell you a story." Siri said. "It's about a mission I went on as a padawan, during which my Master taught me a very important lesson. It was supposed to be a simple negotiations run, but following an encounter with the governor's son that ended with a black eye, it turned into much more."

The End


End file.
